Superfoods for Life, Cultured and Fermented Beverages: Heal digestion - Supercharge Your Immunity - Detoxify Your System - 75 Delicious Recipes

245 Pages·2014·7.23 MB·English

by  Meg Thompson

Superfoods for Life
Cultured and Fermented
BEVERAGES
Meg Thompson
_HEAL DIGESTION
_SUPERCHARGE YOUR IMMUNITY
_DETOXIFY YOUR SYSTEM
_75 RECIPES
CONTENTS
Cultured and Fermented
Beverages
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1
Fermenting for Healthy Digestion
CHAPTER 2
Culturing a Healthy Immune System
CHAPTER 3
Cultured Cleansing: Fermented Beverages for Detoxification and Liver Health CHAPTER 4
Culturing a Fertile Body, Healthy Children, and a Healthy Gut from Birth CHAPTER 5
Culturing for Radiant Skin and a Healthy Mind CHAPTER 6
Botanical Fermentation: Cultured Herbs for Basic Health Conditions CHAPTER 7
Tools of the Trade and Frequently Asked Questions ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INDEX
INTRODUCTION
Dear Fermenting Friend,
I am absolutely thrilled to be able to share with you this information on the truly
incredible health-giving properties of cultured beverages.
In this book, you will discover that not only do they nourish and heal the
digestive system, but also they have other far-reaching benefits, including
improving immunity; assisting in detoxification; supporting pregnancy, breast-
feeding, and growing children; and fostering radiant skin and a healthy mind. I
will also share some trusty naturopathic tonics using fermented herbs to treat
basic health conditions. And the best part? They are all so easy and inexpensive
to make at home.
When I first began research for this book, I was really excited to share some
insights about fermented beverages; however, I wasn’t sure how many studies I
would find. I knew there were many on gut bacteria and probiotics, but I was
less certain about what I would find on fermented beverages. You can imagine
how thrilled I was to find dozens of research articles showing the benefits of
fermented beverages, in particular kombucha and kefir. They are the
heavyweights of the fermented beverage world, and for this reason they receive
the lion’s share of attention in this book. But please don’t dismiss your beet
kvass or your sprouted spelt grain rejuvelac—they are just as important as the
big kids.
Getting Started: How to Use This Book
Making cultured beverages may seem overwhelming to begin with. The process
may not have the sexiness of sourdough, or the mellowness of miso, but making
your own fermented beverages is exciting and fun. You just need to find your
rhythm. What is not to love about “burping” your turmeric beer, or watching the
first bubbles of fermentation form, confirming you have a drink that is truly
alive? In fact, at times you may feel like a mad scientist conjuring up
experiments. And to be honest, that is what is so fun about making these drinks:
You really can create your own brand of specialness with them. Fermenting
teaches patience and trust, which is a wonderful thing to have in our homes to
keep us grounded.
DID YOU KNOW?
Historically, fermented food and beverages were a part of everyday life.
It has only been in relatively recent times, since the introduction of
refrigerators and modern preservation methods, that there has been no
need for traditional food preservation. Fermenting food improves the
longevity of the product and increases its nutrient value. One popular
historic example of its use was with Captain James Cook on his voyage
to Australia; he fed his crew sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) to prevent
them from getting scurvy, which is a disease resulting from a lack of
vitamin C. But with modern food preservation methods, we have seen a
dramatic reduction in the amount of cultured foods and drinks
consumed, while at the same time refined foods have flooded the
Western diet. This is not a good combination, especially for our guts,
and there are countless health conditions that can be linked back to this
general imbalance.
Two of my very favorite things in the world are fermented: coffee and vanilla. A
combination of the natural enzymes in the pulp and the yeasts and bacteria from
the environment break down the mucilaginous pulp around coffee beans. Vanilla
pods are the fermented and dried seedpods of orchids.
Chocolate runs a close third. Chocolate comes from cacao beans, which after
harvesting are fermented in vats covered with banana leaves for a few days. So
harvesting are fermented in vats covered with banana leaves for a few days. So
the point I am getting to here is that fermenting is fabulous.
Throughout this book, I discuss various strains and species of the live bacteria
found in probiotics. The current expert opinion on probiotics is that we cannot
extrapolate and transfer the benefits. For example, if a particular bacteria strain
has been shown in research to alleviate eczema, we cannot then say that all
probiotics are effective, or even that all species are, but only that one exact strain
has been proven to be effective in that research piece. Although I completely
respect the research being done and agree that it is necessary to help us
understand more about how our bodies interact with bacteria, I feel that this view
is a little reductionist. The field of probiotics can be confusing, overwhelming,
and expensive. For the average person trying to better his or her heath who is
told it is necessary to have this strain for this problem and that strain for that
problem, it can all be too much. By taking these strains in isolation, we know
how they perform in isolation, but what about taking them in whole foods? I
have included as many research articles as I could find using kefir and
kombucha, rather than focusing on specific strains, as I feel that is how most
people should be consuming their probiotics—as fermented foods and drinks.
There are a couple of ways to go about culturing beverages. The first is by wild
fermentation, popularized by Sandor Katz, author of The Art of Fermentation.
This means relying on the bacteria and yeasts that are naturally present in the
food or the environment. The other method is by culturing with the addition of a
microbial starter of some kind, like a SCOBY, a packet of yeast, a collection of
kefir grains, or whey. I cover both methods in this book.
The final note I want to make is that although this book is full of recipes with
exact ingredients, you will most likely get a slightly different result each time
you make a particular recipe. The end result of your recipe will depend on the
sourness of your cultured beverage to begin with. My advice is to play around
with the basic recipes and techniques to get your confidence up, and also to get
to know how tart you like your drinks and how long you need to leave them to
get that result. Then you can start experimenting!
CHAPTER 1
Fermenting for Healthy Digestion
A healthy gut is essential to the health of our whole body. If our
digestive system is not in balance, we may develop not only digestive
symptoms but also disease throughout the body.
How do fermented beverages help? They contribute to a healthy gut
ecosystem, and they also have specific actions that directly improve
its function. Swapping the soda pop for the kombucha, for example, is
one simple change that will not only improve digestion, but also make
a positive impact on immunity, weight management, energy, and even
the way we feel emotionally.

How Does Digestion Work?
Beginning at the mouth, the digestive system involves the liver, gallbladder,
pancreas, and colon all working in harmony to keep us functioning well. But
digestion starts before food even enters our mouth. We smell something
delicious, or we see a fabulous social media feed full of delicious-looking food
photos, and they trigger saliva release—they are literally mouthwatering. The
release of saliva is controlled by the brain, specifically the autonomic nervous
system. Saliva contains an important enzyme, amylase, which initiates the
digestion of starch.
Following from this, swallowed food moves through the esophagus into the
stomach, where stomach acid is released. Stomach acid and enzymes are the
gracious digestive hosts without which the party cannot happen. A reduced
production of stomach acid and digestive enzymes leads to problems digesting
and absorbing food and nutrients, and it is also associated with a whole host of
inflammatory conditions and gastrointestinal infections. The acid not only helps
break down protein, but also enhances the bioavailability of minerals and kills
off pathogenic bacteria that are harmful to the body. Low stomach acid, or
hypochlorhydria, is far more common than over-acidity. Interestingly, it is
usually a lack of stomach acid that leads to conditions such as reflux, or
gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and not an oversupply of it.
The next step in digestion involves the food being pushed along from the
stomach into the small intestine, and at that point juices from the pancreas and
liver join the party. This further digests and converts the food into substances
that the body can absorb. Absorption of nutrients takes place as food passes
through the small intestine. The small intestine is a long tube, about 1 inch (2.5
cm) in diameter and 20 feet (6 meters) in length if stretched out. The tube is
lined with finger-like folds called villi. Now imagine every villus is further
covered by tiny, hair-like structures called microvilli. Instead of just having the
surface area of the tube, it is now increased dramatically with the villi and
microvilli to give an actual surface area of roughly 250 square meters—about the
size of a tennis court. It is incredible to think that all this is neatly packed up
inside us. The villi and microvilli are woven together tightly, and the entire small
intestine is further covered in mucus for protection. A strict security system is in
place here, and only correctly processed nutrients are absorbed across the barrier
into the bloodstream.
After this, waste products from this process move through to the colon, where
After this, waste products from this process move through to the colon, where
they are released with a bowel movement for excretion.
But What Makes a Healthy Gut? Bacteria!
Did you know that we have about 2 quarts/2 liters of bacteria lining our digestive
tract? These beautiful, hardworking little microbes live protected and nourished
by our gut. These microbes outnumber our body cells by a ratio of 10:1, and
with ten times more bacteria cells than body cells, it’s important to make sure
they are well looked after. They are absolutely essential to our health, not only in
the digestive system but also in the nervous system and immune system. Every
individual has a unique composition of gut bacteria, right from birth. The
birthing process itself delivers each child with a dose of the mother’s flora via
the birth canal, setting up the child with a blueprint of microbes that will
continue to develop as he or she grows. We pick up additional microbes along
the way from our environment, to complete our own individual gut microbiome.
DID YOU KNOW?
Interestingly, where we live in the world shapes the makeup of our gut
bacteria. For example, research published in the journal Nature in 2012
showed that people living in rural West Africa had a greater diversity of
gut bacteria, and also a higher amount of fiber-loving bacteria, than
many others in more developed areas. Compare this with First World
guts, which showed much less variety, and a dominance of
carbohydrate-and protein-loving bacteria. This is indicative of the way
that we generally eat in the First World: lots of meat and lots of
carbohydrates. Our gut bacteria tend to show that they can adapt to the
specific environment and food supply they are given. One solution to
our Western lack of gut bacteria diversity proposed by several Stanford
University scientists is to consume fermented foods (and drinks).
Gut bacteria, or gut microbiota, are constantly present in our digestive tract,
existing happily in a symbiotic relationship with our body. As much as this may
sound like a big microbial love-in, it is actually a highly organized and strictly
controlled environment. If it starts to suffer, then food intolerances, malnutrition,
and disease rear their heads. The concept of being overfed and undernourished is
so relevant in modern society. There is an abundance of food; however, what we